Orudzhev finishes on top in Paul Ricard test sessions

SMP Racing-backed Arden Motorsport driver Egor Orudzhev was quickest in both collective test sessions at Paul Ricard as the Formula V8 3.5 season resumed on Friday.

Orudzhev set a best time of 1:49.606 in the opening session to lead Fortec Motorsports’ Louis Deletraz by 0.153s, with the two at the front the only drivers to get beneath the 110-second barrier.

Aurélien Panis was third in the second Arden ahead of Roy Nissany of Lotus, while RP Motorsport saw Vitor Baptista claim fifth as the Brazilian continues to show improvement this season after a slow start since coming in as the 2015 EuroFormula Open champion.

Rene Binder was sixth in the second Lotus ahead of championship leader Tom Dillmann, who had a relatively quiet session for AVF, while Matthieu Vaxiviere was eighth for SMP Racing ahead of Teo Martin Motorsport duo Beitske Visser and Yu Kanamaru.

Orudzhev set the pace again in the afternoon session with a best time of 1:49.730, this time ending 0.298 seconds clear of Deletraz, while Dillmann improved to third, a further 0.152 seconds back on the Renault Sport Academy star.

Panis was fourth ahead of the second Fortec of Pietro Fittipaldi, with the Brazilian finishing ahead of Binder, Vaxiviere, Baptista, Visser and Kanamaru.

Artur Janosz finished thirteenth in the first session as he made his debut in the championship for RP Motorsport, before improving to twelfth in the second session, just behind SMP Racing’s Matevos Isaakyan.